For Year-Round Buzz, Beekeepers 'Fast-Forward Darwinism'

The Plymouth County Beekeepers Association distributed more than 500 crates of honeybees this spring.

Katherine Perry for NPR

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Originally published on May 12, 2013 5:51 pm

Beekeepers In Massachusetts are taking the mission to save the bees into their own hands.

There has been a dramatic disappearance of honeybees across the U.S. since 2006. A recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report blamed a combination of problems, including mites, disease, poor nutrition and pesticides.

To fortify the honeybee population in its area, the Plymouth County Beekeepers Association in Plympton, Mass., is slowly nurturing its own, stronger breed.

The arrival of the bees is a rite of spring for the group. This year, the club's 300-some members came out to pick up 525 crates of honeybees. Ann Rein, president of the association, estimates there are more than 5.2 million bees in total.

She says most people in the club, like Steve Brown, got into backyard bees not to save the Earth, but for more hedonistic reasons: honey and entertainment.

"You go out first thing in the morning and have coffee, and watch the bees going to work. Maybe the end of the day, have a cocktail ... and watch the bees coming back from work," Brown says.

But the bees Brown is picking up this season likely won't survive the winter. They are bred in Georgia; the majority of the U.S. bee-rearing industry is in the South. They are unsuited to the New England climate, and are vulnerable to the same factors being blamed for the widespread decline of the honeybees.

"There'll probably be anywhere from 30- to 60-percent failure with a lot of these queens that won't over-winter," says Bob Hickey, chairman of the association's Queen Rearing Initiative.

He says most backyard beekeepers just buy new bees every year — maintaining, but not substantially increasing or strengthening, the bee stock.

When the group read about heartier, Northern queens being bred at Minnesota State University, members decided to work on breeding their own better bee.

The queens also have been bred with Russian bees for a better over-wintering ability, and Hickey says that in the past four years they've seen success.

"We have some that have over-wintered for three years in a row now," he says. "And we reproduce every year from the ones that have the best qualities of those genetics. So, we're really fast-forwarding Darwinism, basically."

They hope these queens will produce offspring that can also survive a Massachusetts winter.

While this type of selective breeding is happening at many universities and research centers, few amateur beekeeping societies have taken up the task, says Tom Rinderer, a honeybee researcher at the USDA.

His lab produces the type of bee breeds that the Massachusetts beekeepers are using; some of those bees go to commercial producers and some go to boutique backyard breeders.

"It's difficult for somebody to commercialize that," he says. "So there's still a need for folks to take what is available, bring it into their area and then kind of reselect and fine-tune the genetics of those bees for their own area. So, it's a great thing to hear. I congratulate them."

The new beekeepers in Plympton are learning how to manage their bees. This year, they'll work with those Southern ones. But, Hickey says, they hope slowly to replace them with the Northern-bred bees.

"This is gonna be a 10-, 15-, maybe even 20-year plan," he says. "It's a shot in the dark."

Until then, Hickey says he'll keep handing out Southern bees and training residents to care for them. So when they get their first hearty, Northern queen, they'll be ready.

Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Transcript

ARUN RATH, HOST:

If you think you're noticing fewer bees in your garden this spring, you're not imagining it. The U.S. is experiencing a dramatic disappearance of honeybees. The causes include disease, poor nutrition and pesticides. That's according to the USDA.

Beekeepers in Plympton, Massachusetts, though, are taking the mission to save the bees into their own hands. Katherine Perry reports.

KATHERINE PERRY, BYLINE: The arrival of the bees in Plympton, Massachusetts, is a rite of spring for the Plymouth County Beekeepers Association. This year, the club's some 300 members came out to pick up 525 crates of honeybees.

ANN REIN: We figure we've got 5,250,000 bees came up.

PERRY: Ann Rein is president of the Beekeepers Association. She says most people in the club, like Steve Brown, have gotten into backyard bees not to save the earth but for more hedonistic reasons: honey and entertainment.

STEVE BROWN: So you go out first thing in the morning and have coffee and watch the bees going to work. Maybe the end of the day have a cocktail at the end of the day and watch the bees coming back from work.

PERRY: But the bees Steve is picking up today likely won't survive the winter. These bees are bred in Georgia. The majority of the U.S. bee-rearing industry is in the South. They're unsuited to the New England climate and are vulnerable to the same factors being blamed for the widespread decline of the honeybees.

BOB HICKEY: There'll probably be anywhere from 30 to 60 percent failure with a lot of these queens that won't over-winter.

PERRY: That's Bob Hickey, chairman of the association's Queen Rearing Initiative. He says most backyard beekeepers just buy new bees every year, maintaining but not substantially increasing or strengthening the bee stock. When they read about heartier, Northern-bred queens being bred at Minnesota State University, the group decided to work on breeding its own better bee.

HICKEY: We purchased instrumentally inseminated queens with hygienic traits that will fight off varroa mites, viruses and diseases.

PERRY: The queens have also been bred with Russian bees for a better over-wintering ability, and Hickey says in the past four years, they've seen success.

HICKEY: We have some that have over-wintered for three years in a row now. And we reproduce every year from the ones that have the best qualities of those genetics. So we're really fast-forwarding Darwinism, basically.

PERRY: They're hoping these queens will produce offspring that can also survive a Massachusetts winter. While this type of selective breeding is happening at many universities and research centers, very few amateur beekeeping societies have taken up the task, according to Dr. Tom Rinderer, a honeybee researcher at the USDA.

His lab produces the type of bee breeds that the Massachusetts beekeepers are using. Some of those bees go to commercial producers and some go to boutique backyard breeders.

DR. TOM RINDERER: It's difficult for somebody to commercialize that, so there's still a need for folks to take what is available, bring it into their area and then kind of reselect and fine-tune the genetics of those bees for their own area. And so it's a great thing to hear. I congratulate them.

PERRY: Back in Plympton, Massachusetts, the new beekeepers are learning how to manage their bees. This year, they'll still be working with those Southern ones, but Hickey says they hope to slowly replace them with the Northern-bred bees.

HICKEY: This is going to be a 10, 15, maybe even 20-year plan. It's a shot in the dark.

PERRY: Until then, says Hickey, he'll keep handing out Southern bees and training residents to care for them. So when they get their first hearty Northern queen, they'll be ready. For NPR News, I'm Katherine Perry. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.